By Sage Wheeler, ND

In my 15 years of practice as a men’s health physician, I have been lucky to see some truly awe-inspiring recoveries from chronic disease. While the health benefits of HRT are well known when it comes to quality of life, mood, energy, and sexual health, many are surprised at the profound impact it has on their neurologic health. While more studies are needed to make HRT a primary intervention for neurologic disease, there is very little risk in adding HRT to the treatment plan when it is appropriate. I would like to share three cases in the hopes of inspiring more physicians to adopt these protocols and encouraging patients to ask for them.

Three men, one with Parkinson’s, one with MS, and one with ALS, each presented to my clinic for supportive care in 2022.  All are on standard conventional therapy for their given conditions, all were continuing to experience progressively worsening symptoms. Each was found to have very low testosterone, high homocysteine (low B vitamins), low omegas, and low vitamin D.  They all chose to utilize Biote pellet therapy for their TRT, and their vitamin deficiencies were aggressively corrected with high-quality nutraceuticals. Each was also put on the Whole 30 diet, a favorite dietary intervention of mine.

After at least 4 months of therapy, each patient was re-examined and found to have a remarkable improvement in their symptoms.  At the onset, the Parkinson’s patient was initially unable to pass the standard spiral drawing test (draw a spiral without crossing the lines). At follow-up, he was able to easily pass the test and reported an improvement in resting tremor and improved cognition. At 1 year, the MS patient experienced a recovery of sensation in his thumb and did not experience any progression of his disease. At 6 months, the ALS patient had experienced improved cognitive function, decreased fasciculations, and subjectively noted the rate at which he was losing strength was dramatically slowed.

As we continue to study the role of HRT for neurological disease, dementia, or simple brain fog and memory problems it is important to follow optimized practice.  Many studies on HRT fail to appropriately optimize hormone levels, use subpar interventions (like gels and creams), and have too short of a treatment window (hormones take time). We should also be mindful of the lifestyle basics of diet and exercise and correct all vitamin deficiencies aggressively.

I look forward to seeing the body of evidence grow as more cases like these are noted and studied more thoroughly. I am proud to be part of Biote as we pave the way for this new paradigm in healthcare.

Sage Wheeler, ND

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